VW Arteon Sounds Like a Sports Car Thanks to Exhaust Sound Generator

Perhaps excluding the new Touareg, its design is exclusive. We're talking about the creases in the headlights and the pronounced angles over the arches and in the trunk lid. For a Volkswagen, it's quite striking.

Of course, there are other similarly affordable four-door coupes, such as the Kia Stinger. But the Arteon beats German rivals like the Audi A5 Sportback and BMW 4 Series Gran Coupe on both price and practicality.

The one major flaw of this car has to do with its architecture. It's based on the same MQB platform as the European Passat sedan. However, because the body is so much more significant, the Arteon is heavier. Also, excluding the base 1.5-liter, the engine range is made up exclusively of 2-liter turbo 4-bangers, and none of them sound good.

The old Passat CC (later called just CC) didn't have such problems. Its 200 horsepower GTI-derived 2-liter was great, and the 1.8 TSI wasn't bad either. But due to the "miracle of direct injection" Volkswagens now pipe fake sounds into the cabin.

Volkswagen currently doesn't offer an active exhaust system, but it's readily available aftermarket, and we found a video where it's been fitted to a Passat 2.0 BiTDI 240 HP. The soundtrack they were going for here is that of the Audi RS3, with its odd-firing 2.5-liter. The software-enabled active sound exhaust also copies a V8 but doesn't completely cover up the TDI rattle which is hugely disappointing when you look at the sexy shape of the car.

Systems like these are quite game-changing in Germany. They keep the factory exhaust intact, so are TUV-certified, which is a real problem for TDIs. Also, at about €2,000, they are no more expensive than a regular performance muffler set.